BROCKTON – She had wanted to leave. She had wanted to start her life anew.

Florence Beaulieu had documented in court affidavits the physical and verbal abuse she had endured during her 15-year marriage to Jean-Michel Beaulieu. She had filed for divorce on April 18.

“I am finally FREE and it’s the best feeling ever,” the 37-year-old mother of four posted on Facebook days earlier, on April 6. “Florence ... is being born again. Giving up, never one of my options.”

In recent years, she had twice filed for restraining orders against her estranged husband – who is now charged with her murder – only to withdraw the protective orders days later.

The case illustrates how it can be difficult for a victim of domestic violence to get out of an abusive relationship – and why victims, who are often caught up in a cycle of violence and manipulation, may repeatedly go back to an abuser, experts say.

“What these women often describe is that when things are going well, it’s everything they want and they really want it and they don’t want to give that up,” said Elizabeth Englander, a Bridgewater State University psychologist and author of “Understanding Violence.”

“And then the tension begins to build inevitably and they see violent phases,” Englander said. “And this often just keeps going around and around, and it makes it emotionally difficult for these women to enforce these kinds of orders. It makes it very difficult to break away.”

Her daughters found Florence Beaulieu dead at her Brockton home on May 16, a blanket draped over her face and covered in blood, two days after she had removed a restraining order against her estranged husband. An autopsy showed the cause of her death was blunt-force trauma.

Jean-Michel Beaulieu, 42, was held without bail after his arraignment Wednesday in Brockton District Court on charges of murder and three counts of violating a restraining order."

Victims can be drawn into the cycle of violence by manipulative partners who can abuse one minute, and apologize the next, Englander said.

“That’s part of this cycle, is (for an abuser) to hurt the victim and then to apologize, and become the good version of themselves, one that the victim loves and wants to stay with,” Englander said.

It can be harder for domestic violence victims to break away if they have children with their abuser, since they are oftentimes emotionally and financially connected, said Toni Troop, a spokeswoman for Jane Doe Inc., the Massachusetts coalition against sexual assault and domestic violence.

“What we hear from victims all the time, they don’t necessarily want the relationship to stop. They want the violence to stop,” Troop said. “They are in a relationship with someone who they loved, who they have children with. They have a lot invested.”

Page 2 of 2 - Florence Beaulieu told her Brockton landlord on April 1 that her estranged husband was no longer living in the apartment and that he “had taken all of the money and she did not have the rent money,” court documents show. On April 17, Florence Beaulieu, who worked as a certified nursing assistant at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Milton, paid the rent and in May, she told her landlord she planned to move out of the Forest Avenue apartment with her children, effective June 1, because of “ongoing issues with her husband,” court documents show.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence says nearly one-third of female homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner.

And the most dangerous time for a victim of domestic violence is when she takes steps to leave the relationship, Troop said.

“They’re telling the abuser, ‘No,’ that they will no longer tolerate being controlled and abused or mistreated,” Troop said. “It’s like it’s pushing all the buttons for the abuser.”

From 2003 to 2013, a total of 169 women were killed in Massachusetts as a result of domestic violence, according to Jane Doe Inc. Eleven of those women were killed in 2013 alone.

A victim’s decision not to extend a restraining order against her abuser, for example, may be based on fear more than anything else, Troop and Englander said.

“In the worst cases, it’s not a matter of threatening violence, (abusers) demonstrate that they’re very capable of it,” Englander said.

Having a strong support network, which can include domestic violence hotlines or battered women’s shelters, is critical for victims who want to leave their abuser, Troop said.

Troop urged people who may know domestic violence victims to watch for signs and reach out to help them.

“We really urge people to talk to a domestic violence advocate, to think through their options and choices and to create a safety plan,” she said.